Timothy Booth (born 4 February 1960) is an English singer-songwriter, actor and dancer. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band James, and co-wrote several of their hit singles including " Sit Down", " Come Home", and " Laid". As an actor, Booth is also known for portraying Victor Zsasz in the 2005 film ''

Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...

''.

Career

Early years

Booth was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England, and grew up in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire in his teenage years. He attended Shrewsbury School. Whilst a student at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

studying

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

in 1981, Booth encountered Jim Glennie, Paul Gilbertson and Gavan Whelan in the cellar bar of the university's students' union. Impressed by Booth's distinctive dancing style, Gilbertson invited Booth to join their band as a dancer. Booth accepted the offer, and was soon promoted to lead singer and lyricist of the band James.

1990s

After a struggle for success and recognition through most of the 1980s, James finally achieved commercial success in the early 1990s with the rise of the Madchester music scene, and their single " Sit Down" reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. During 1995, Booth took a break from James and recorded an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

with

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Angelo Badalamenti, entitled '' Booth and the Bad Angel''. He then returned to James to complete the recording of the album '' Whiplash'', and stayed with the band until 2001, when he announced his departure to concentrate on other projects.

2000s

After leaving James, Booth spent time concentrating on teaching the dance practice known as the 5Rhythms, a movement meditation practice. In 2004, together with

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Lee Muddy Baker and songwriter KK (Kevin Kerrigan), he released his first solo album, ''Bone'', to general critical acclaim, though he referred to it as a collaborative effort and preferred to credit the album to 'Tim Booth & the Individuals' as opposed to taking sole credit. He also began taking acting lessons during this time, and starred in a production at

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

's Octagon Theatre. He also appeared as the

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

villain Victor Zsasz in the 2005 film ''

''. Booth also voiced the character in the video game adaptation of the film. On

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

, 14 April 2006, he appeared as Judas in the Manchester Passion – a musical style show in the middle of Manchester, using

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

from the region to tell the story of

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

. Booth sang a version of

the Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

's " Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", and although the James song " Sit Down" was used, it was not sung by Booth himself (he did, however, sing it in an encore after the cameras had stopped rolling). Booth has also contributed to MTV's search for the greatest song lyrics in April 2006 as a

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

. In January 2007, it was announced that Booth would be rejoining James. The band played an eight date tour in April 2007 and made appearances at several

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

s throughout 2007. This was followed by a new James album, '' Hey Ma'' in April 2008 which coincided with a UK tour. He has also stated that, despite the reunion of James, he still plans to release further solo material.

2010s

In 2010, Booth continued his acting career with a role in the independent film ''Poor Wee Me'', the debut feature from

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

film director Simon Powell, in which he played the role of Gabriel De Souza, the shady boss of a debt collection agency. Booth released a new solo album, ''Love Life'', in April 2011; again with Lee 'Muddy' Baker producing, co-writing and playing guitar. The release of the album was accompanied by a tour of the UK and then continental Europe, with Tim's backing band featuring Baker as well as

Saul Davies Saul Davies (born 28 June 1965) is a British musician best known as a member of the rock band James. Davies is a multi-instrumentalist whose primary instruments are the violin, guitar and percussion. Career Saul Davies was hired as a member ...

, violinist with James.

Discography

Albums

*'' Booth and the Bad Angel'' (1996) - as Booth and the Bad Angel * ''Bone'' (2004) * ''Love Life'' (2011)

References

Sources

* Stuart Maconie: ''Folklore'', Virgin Books, 2000 ().

External links

IMDBTim Booth's websiteJames' Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Tim 1960 births Living people Musicians from Bradford English male singers English male songwriters English male film actors James (band) members People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of the University of Manchester